12x28 - Yes, In Deed

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: up next...

Her death was first ruled an accident.

He thought he was gonna get away with it.

Narrator: ...until the autopsy proves otherwise.

Fire in this case was used in an attempt to cover a m*rder.

Narrator: but who wanted this woman dead, and why?

Greed and money are probably the oldest motives in the world

For a m*rder.

Narrator: but would he get away with it?

He thought he was a pretty smart guy.

That was the mistake that he made.

Narrator: just after dusk in november of , firefighters

In augusta, georgia, were dispatched to a mobile-home fire

On the south side of town.

They're tinderboxes, and you're just talking about a

Matter of minutes before the entire mobile home is completely

Engulfed.

Narrator: it took minutes for firefighters to bring the

Blaze under control.

When they did, they found the homeowner, edith ann haynes,

Dead in the bathroom.

She became overwhelmed by the smoke and the heat and was

Unable to, you know, escape the fire and d*ed inside.

Narrator: edith ann haynes, known to friends as "ann," was

Divorced and was on disability from her job at

The kendall company, makers of surgical dressings.

A preliminary investigation indicated the fire started in a

Spare bedroom used as a storage space.

Officially, the cause of the blaze was ruled undetermined.

But it was believed to be an electrical fire.

It was right at the time the weather started getting a little

Cooler, and might have been some heat on, and that might have

Started the fire.

Narrator: at the autopsy, the medical examiner expected to

Find evidence of smoke inhalation.

Instead, he found no soot or debris in her trachea.

And her hyoid bone in her neck was broken, which usually

Indicates strangulation.

I've never seen a situation where a bone in a person's

Throat has been crushed by accident, unless there's been

Some traumatic car wreck or some other explanation.

Narrator: the medical examiner also found marks on the

Outer part of her neck.

They were consistent with fingernail marks.

Whatever happened before she d*ed was very, very violent,

Because there was obvious -- there were evidence of

Blunt-force trauma.

Narrator: the autopsy concluded edith ann haynes was

Dead before the fire started.

But who wanted her dead, and why?

Ironically, until three days earlier, haynes had lived in a

Larger house about miles away.

She was in a financial situation where she needed to

Sell her house.

Narrator: steve culberson, haynes' nephew and the

Administrator of her estate, looked through the rubble to

Find her financial records.

I felt that there had to be more evidence there.

We took everything out of the cabinets and just searched for

Stuff.

There was no evidence of where her keys were, her wallet.

Narrator: and he and the investigators found something

Suspicious.

One of those was a signed contract between ann haynes and

A man by the name of michael bryant.

Narrator: ms. Haynes sold her home to mr. Bryant and already

Transferred the deed but for some reason hadn't received the

Proceeds from the sale.

That was a "perry mason" moment.

He was going to pay her a sum of $,.

She was selling her house to pay her bills off and eventually

Retire.

That was the whole purpose behind her selling the house.

Narrator: at first, investigators assumed the fire

In edith ann haynes' mobile home was accidental, most likely

Caused by an electrical problem.

But when the medical examiner ruled ms. Haynes' death a

Homicide, investigators called in mike lane, an expert in the

Field of fire investigations.

All I wanted him to be able to do was tell me was this an

Arson, was it not an arson, and if it was, how did it start,

Where did it start, you know, "tell me as much about the fire

As you can."

Narrator: the first thing he did was to conduct a

Room-by-room search, trying to determine where the fire started

And how it spread.

If you have a large area, you can determine heat flow and

Directionality by cutting this wall stud in two.

And when you cut it in two, looking down on the top, you can

See that the fire came from this direction and flowed around this

Point.

We have much more degradation right here than we do on this

Side.

Narrator: lane then drew a diagram of the floor plan and

Charted the burn patterns, using an arrow to point toward the

Heat source.

Examining this pattern, it indicates the direction of fire

Flow starting at the bottom of this pattern where we first see

Charring.

And then at the top of this, where we see charring, if we

Drew a line across there, it gives us a direction from which

The fire started.

Narrator: then he looked for visible signs of an accelerant,

Like gasoline, which makes a fire burn faster and hotter.

When I pulled up the threshold, there was a slight

Odor, and that's why I cut it out and put it in a container.

When I smell fuels that I've smelled for years, I get

Excited because I believe they're there.

But I don't allow myself to go to the point where I say it's

Absolute.

Narrator: lane put debris from the fire into airtight

Containers and sent them to the lab.

But the larger questions facing investigators were who wanted

Edith ann haynes dead and why?

She didn't have a real big social life.

She would occasionally go out with friends, maybe have a drink

Or two after work.

When it's a m*rder so off the wall and no real object behind

Why it had to happen -- why, you know?

Narrator: the most logical suspect was -year-old

Michael bryant, haynes' co-worker at

The kendall company.

Bryant bought ann's old home as an investment.

So she agreed to sell him this house, where she had spent,

You know, years, whatever -- her whole adult life.

The deal was he would pay the mortgage that was left on it,

Which wasn't much, and pay her $, cash and help her out a

Little bit with her new place.

Narrator: when questioned by police, bryant said he gave

Ms. Haynes a $, check and she signed over the deed to the

House, but investigators found no evidence that haynes cashed

The check, and no trace of it was found in the rubble.

Shockingly, bryant was unwilling to issue another $, check

To ms. Haynes' estate.

We did have to sue him to get the $,.

He wasn't gonna pay that until we come up and did that.

Narrator: bryant denied having anything to do with the

Arson and m*rder, and he had a solid alibi.

At the time of the fire, michael bryant did have an

Alibi.

He was miles away at a grill with his wife.

And they'd actually gone to a movie after that.

Narrator: bryant and his wife had the movie-ticket stubs and

Restaurant receipts to prove it.

His wife verified that this was true and there was no reason

That she was not being truthful to us.

Narrator: but something bothered investigators.

[ Cellphone rings ] one of bryant's co-workers

Called him that night after the movie to tell him about the

Fire.

The call said there was a fire at edith's house.

Oh, my -- oh, g-- all right.

Are you serious?

And michael started crying.

[ Voice breaking ] how did that happen?!

Well, the thing was that the call didn't say anything about

Edith being dead, only that there was a fire.

Narrator: and that told investigators they were on the

Right track.

Narrator: an autopsy revealed that edith ann haynes was beaten

And strangled to death before the fire started in her mobile

Home.

To find out whether an accelerant was used to start the

Fire, samples were collected and sent to the laboratory.

There, forensic scientist laurel mason took the contents

Of the airtight containers and prepared them for testing.

What I need to do is get the ignitable liquid that was used

Accelerate the fire into a gas form.

And I do that by heating the sample up.

That gas is then collected or absorbed onto the charcoal

Strip.

Narrator: a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer analyzed the

Samples and compared them to a database of over known

Reference samples.

It is like a doctor looking at an ekg.

I have to be able to visually recognize what it is that I'm

Looking at.

The sample that was removed from the threshold was positive for

Gasoline.

Narrator: now investigators wanted to know who was the last

Person inside ann's home on the day of the fire.

Interestingly, neighbors saw michael bryant's truck at ann's

Home around : p.m., But the truck was gone by : p.m.

The fire didn't start until two hours later.

Michael bryant and his wife were at the restaurant where he

Went, and the movie theater was in evans, which is a suburb of

Augusta, another good , minutes to get there, so he was,

You know, at least a half-hour or more away from her when the

Fire occurred.

Narrator: arson investigator mike lane knew from experience

That there was a way that bryant could have k*lled ms. Haynes,

Started the fire, and still have been at the movie two hours

Later.

The late-ignition device is something that an arsonist would

Use so that they can be someplace else when the fire

Starts.

And it may be four minutes.

It could be for hours.

Or in all actuality, it could be for days, the more sophisticated

It is.

Narrator: lane says there are numerous ways to construct the

Device, but he won't say how.

I really don't want to train folks to be arsonists.

Narrator: as for bryant's alibi, investigators had one

Question -- who keeps a movie receipt?

It is inconceivable that someone would keep in their

Records one movie stub, one restaurant receipt, unless they

Were keeping it for a specific reason, and his reason was that

He wanted to be able to establish an alibi.

Narrator: scott peebles checked out michael bryant's

Background and discovered that bryant had been married before,

So he called bryant's ex-wife.

We learned from her that he was fascinated with fire and

Would frequently dabble with pyrotechnics, so to speak.

Narrator: she also told peebles that the home they owned

Together mysteriously b*rned to the ground.

Before the house b*rned down, he insisted that she go over to

Her parents' and take the dog with her.

She recalled that she didn't want to go spend the night at

Her parents' house this night.

Narrator: bryant's ex-wife said the fire resulted in a

Substantial insurance settlement.

And even she believed her ex-husband started it.

Prior to the fire, he had already rented an apartment that

His ex-wife did not know he had put into his name.

Narrator: bryant's car was also destroyed in that fire.

It, too, was insured.

Strangely, the car's tires were a special model and valuable.

Miraculously, they survived.

He removed the tires from his car and placed them far enough

Away from the house where they wouldn't be destroyed when the

House b*rned down.

Narrator: although this was certainly suspicious, it wasn't

Proof that bryant had anything to do with ann haynes' m*rder.

And he had a lot of friends, a lot of support, you know.

They just insisted that there was no way he could have done

This crime 'cause he'd never been in trouble before.

Narrator: and investigators also discovered bryant had

Firefighter training.

He was on the fire brigade at the manufacturing plant where he

Worked.

His training from the fire brigade, which would have taught

Him how to do -- you know, what a delayed-ignition device was,

How to set fires, how to -- how arsonists work, what to look for

In an arson.

Narrator: throughout the investigation, bryant had

Willingly answered all questions by police, but when the

Questioning got more intense, he stopped cooperating.

And at some point, he was asked to submit to a polygraph

Examination, which he originally agreed to do.

But prior to the scheduling of that examination, he backed out.

Narrator: so investigators had no evidence linking bryant

To the crime.

He got away with it once.

He thought he'd get away with it again.

Narrator: with very little evidence against michael bryant

For the m*rder of ann haynes, investigators got a warrant to

Search his home.

They seized his computer and analyzed his hard drive.

On it was a wealth of information.

When his computer was seized, we were able to see that in the

Days prior to the scheduled polygraph that he didn't take,

He was looking at websites on how to b*at a polygraph.

And then he didn't take the polygraph.

Narrator: they also searched the storage spaces.

When I went into that attic, things just kind of got eerie

From there, and basically what I saw was similar to an altar for

What I would certainly think was satanic worship, with a

Pentagram, candles, and b*rned items.

Narrator: in the garage, investigators found a coil of

Detonation or fuse wire, the kind used to construct a

Delayed-ignition device.

Most people probably don't have detonation cord laying

Around their house, but michael bryant did.

Narrator: a search of bryant's financial records

Showed he was deeply in debt.

He made between $, and $, a year, but he lived

Like he made twice that much.

This was someone who was kiting checks between different

Financial institutions to get by.

He may have had this $, home, but he was living well

Outside of his means, and he was in over his head.

Narrator: and with this evidence, michael bryant was

Arrested and charged with arson and m*rder.

Prosecutors say the motive was obvious.

Besides love and money, greed and money are probably the

Oldest motives in the world for a m*rder.

Narrator: michael bryant worked with ms. Haynes, and when

She bought the mobile home and put her old house up for sale,

Bryant offered to buy it as a rental property.

Bryant paid off the loans on the house and had ann sign over

The deed.

Then he gave haynes a check for $,, the balance of the

Purchase price.

So he had written a check to ann haynes for $,, asking

Her to hold the check, not cash it, until he could put the funds

In the account.

This kept getting delayed continually by him.

And on the day of the fire, she indicated that she was going to

Cash that check whether he wanted to or not.

Narrator: she may have realized that bryant had no

Intention of paying her, since she had already signed the deed

And didn't yet have the $, he owed her.

Prosecutors believe bryant went to haynes' mobile home on the

Day of the m*rder to ask her again to delay cashing his check

For the $,.

I didn't cash it today.

I need another week.

No, I need to cash it tomorrow.

I have bills.

What am I trying to pull?

Narrator: no one knows what took place, but the evidence

Shows bryant struck her on the back of the head, strangled her

To death, then dragged her body into the bathroom.

To death, then dragged her body into the bathroom.

He took the incriminating evidence -- his $, check.

The evidence shows he poured gasoline on haynes' body, down

The hallway, into the living room, and to the front door.

But he couldn't set the house on fire in broad daylight with his

Truck outside.

He needed time to establish an alibi.

He used fuse wire and other household items to construct

Some type of delayed-ignition device.

Then he left the scene.

The evidence shows that bryant picked up his wife and they

Drove to a restaurant miles away for dinner.

They left at :, then went to a : movie.

Around :, the device bryant set in ann haynes' home started

The fire while he and his wife were in the movie theater,

Surrounded by witnesses.

Despite his well-laid plans, michael made one huge mistake.

[ Cellphone rings ] while walking out of the

Theater, his friend called to tell him that the haynes mobile

Home was destroyed in a fire.

Are you kidding me?

Oh, my -- oh, g-- all right.

Are you serious?

Michael reacted inappropriately, given the fact the caller said

Nothing about ann having been involved in the fire, let alone

k*lled.

He thought he was a pretty smart guy.

That was the mistake that he made, 'cause he wasn't quite as

Smart as he thought he was.

Narrator: the fire didn't eliminate everything.

As in most arsons, it actually created more evidence than it

Destroyed.

Essentially, she was k*lled over $,.

Narrator: in october of , michael bryant went on trial for

Malice, m*rder, arson, and burglary.

In this case, it was premeditated.

It was planned.

It was schemed.

He took the day off work.

And he planned this m*rder.

It started out to be just a little small-transaction deal of

A person selling a house, not going through a real-estate

Agent -- you know, friends at work -- and it turns out to be a

m*rder.

Just still blows my mind every time I think about it.

Narrator: bryant maintained throughout his trial that it was

Impossible for him to have set the fire.

Michael bryant's defense was he had an alibi.

He wasn't there.

He was miles away.

He had no reason to k*ll her.

It wasn't really a big deal that he owed her this money.

Narrator: but the jury didn't believe it.

Michael bryant was convicted and sentenced to life in prison plus

Years.

This was one of the most interesting cases that I ever

Worked on.

When I heard the verdict, I was speechless.

I reached over and hugged my wife and just shed a few tears.

Wasn't nothing to say but "thank god.

Thank god they got him."

Without forensics, we would have not convicted

Michael bryant.

This is a man who did believe he was smarter than everybody else,

And he thought he could manipulate ann haynes.

He thought he could manipulate investigators.

And he believed that he was getting away with it.